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All the Ways to Earn American Airlines Miles in 2019

December 4, 2018
by
Devon Devon

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DevonMillion Mile Secrets Team

Signing-up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Here’s our full Advertising Policy.

As part of the oneworld alliance, American Airlines is a leading brand for both domestic and international travelers. With American Airlines miles, you can reach luxurious destinations like Hawaii and the South Pacific, visit historic cities in Europe, or explore exotic spots in Asia and South America.

But there are lots of other ways to earn American Airlines miles – and some might surprise you!

Earn American Airlines Miles Directly

The easiest wayto earn American Airlines miles is with welcome offers from credit cards. Citi and Barclays each issue American Airlines personal and small busines cards. Each one varies in terms of welcome bonus, annual fee, and miles earned in bonus categories.

Here’s a round-up with the important details. Be sure to check our in-depth reviews of each card for more information.

3. Other Hotel Points

As mentioned before, you can convert hotel points, like Hilton points, into American Airlines miles. The rates are frankly terrible (except Marriott) and we don’t recommend using this option unless you have a very specific reason to do so.

That said, you can convert these other hotel loyalty points to American Airlines miles:

2. Dining Rewards

That’s right, you can regularly earn bonus American Airlines miles when you link your debit and credit cards with American Airlines’ dining program and visit participating restaurants!

All of the travel-related dining programs share the same network, and you can only enroll your card with 1 partner at a time. That said, you can link your card with American Airlines’ dining rewards if you want extra miles for your next award.

Every time you dine counts as a visit – and there are no minimums you have to spend to earn miles. There are often promotions to earn a nice chunk of bonus miles when you spend a certain amount at a participating restaurant within a certain period from enrolling.

5. Partner Programs and Surveys

Earning American Airlines miles to take surveys through e-Rewards is by invitation only, so I wasn’t able to see the details. These surveys are usually time-consuming and don’t award many miles.

But if you fill them out while you’re watching TV or relaxing, you might enjoy sharing your opinions. The trick is to get an invite from a current e-Rewards member. Or you could try contacting them directly and ask to become a member.

Additionally, you can can earn points by parking with PreFlight, moving or selling a house, banking with BankDirect, enrolling in LifeLock, and more! You can even earn miles for donating to causes like Stand Up To Cancer. Check out these links for full details:

6. eShopping

You can earn miles every time you shop through the AAdvantage eShopping portal and directly through participating retail partners.

Every partner has a different going rate for miles per $1 spent but you can often find some nice bonuses. For example, when you sign-up for a 12-week The Economist subscription through the portal, you’ll earn an additional 1,500 American Airlines miles.

One benefit of shopping through these portals is the double dipping of miles and points. Meaning, you’ll not only earn the advertised amount from American Airlines but you’ll earn rewards from using your credit card as well.

7. Bonus Offers

The American Airlines bonus offers page shows you a brief way of how you can earn extra miles. One deal that stands out from the rest is the ability to earn up to 25,000 miles and $100 for every leased phone when you switch to Sprint. Take a look at the offers and see if any make sense for you!

8. Earn American Airlines Miles by Booking Hotel Stays

If you want to earn airline miles when you book through hotels like Marriott, American Airlines has you covered. You can earn miles for qualifying stays with hotel when you book through American Airlines’ portal.

Beyond that, American Airlines has partners to earn even more miles, including dining, taking a cruise, or renting a car. You can also purchase miles if you want them even sooner. Between all of these ways to earn American Airlines miles, you’ll have your next adventure that much faster!

What’s your favorite way to earn (and use!) American Airlines miles?

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Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)

I currently have the Aadvantage Premium Select card. Recently they nicely changed to 2x points on both dining and gasoline. I’m interested in upgrading to the Executive World Elite yet is doesn’t include these extra mile benefits of the Premium Select card. This seems odd to me. Do I understand correctly that you can only hold one of these cards at a time? Is it just trading one benefit for another with moving to the Executive card? Your comments are always appreciated.

Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)